Kolkata, May 6: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Sunday spent the first day of her two-day trip to Kolkata, a city she returned to after about 15 years, with a socio-cultural itinerary, meeting young women rescued from human traffickers and visiting the British era Victoria Memorial.
 Clinton then hosted a dinner for senior officials of the US consulate here, as the city was virtually turned into a fortress to ensure foolproof security for one of the most powerful politicians of the world.
 The focus now shifts on the topmost agenda on Clinton's trip - a meeting with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Monday at the secretariat where issues like FDI in retail, the Teesta treaty and US investment in West Bengal could come up.
 The 64-year-old US leader flew into this eastern Indian metropolis by a US Air Force plane at 12.55 p.m. and hours later met young women survivors of trafficking at the Indian Council for Cultural Relations' Rabindranath Tagore Centre.
 She also met representatives of several NGOs working towards preventing human trafficking and told them to "keep up the spirit". Clinton also offered to help them.
 Clad in a dark suit, Clinton also clapped enthusiastically during a four-minute welcome dance by the women at the centre.
 She encouraged the performers and asked about details and significance of the performance from Sohini Chakraborty, founder of Kolkata Sanved, an NGO looking after trafficking victims.
 "She thoroughly enjoyed the show and personally greeted the girls. She said she was very excited to see them perform," Chakrabarty, who directed the show, told IANS.
 Clinton was then driven to the British era museum Victoria Memorial - housing a major collection of paintings, sculptures and manuscripts from the British period and a rich collection of a visual history of Kolkata.IANS

Lastupdate on : Sun, 6 May 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sun, 6 May 2012 18:30:00 GMT
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